1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control device for an automatic transmission having an automatic gearshift mode and a manual gearshift mode.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 6 is an explanatory view illustrating the shift configuration of a known automatic transmission apparatus having a manual gearshift mode. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view illustrating the shift configuration of a known automatic transmission apparatus in which a change over switch for changing over between an automatic gearshift mode and a manual gearshift mode is provided on a steering wheel. FIG. 8 is an explanatory view illustrating the shift configuration of a known automatic transmission apparatus having two kinds of manual gearshift modes.
Generally, there are known three kinds of automatic transmission apparatuses respectively having manual gearshift modes, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8.
A shift device 100 of the type shown in FIG. 6 has a manual mode position (M) for manually operating a manual mode position (M) (see, for example, JP-A-2002-362180).
The shift device 100 is used to perform a gearshift operation to shift up and down one or more gears of the automatic transmission apparatus by operating the shift lever anteroposteriorly from the manual mode position. The operating path of the shift device 100 is of what is called the H-type, and is configured so that the shift lever operated to a drive position (D) can be operated to the manual mode position.
A shift device 200 of the type shown in FIG. 7 itself does not have a manual mode position for a manual operation thereof. A gearshift operation is performed using a changeover switch 400 and a paddle switch 500, which are disposed on a steering wheel 300 (see, for example, JP-A-2000-283281). The changeover switch 400 is constituted by a switch which is used to change a gearshift mode of an automatic transmission to one of an automatic gearshift mode and a manual gearshift mode, and which is installed at a spoke portion 310 provided on the front side of the steering wheel 300. The changeover switch 400 consists of a shiftup switch 510, which is used to shift up the gear, and a shiftdown switch 520 which is used to shift down the gear. In this case, a control device 600 has one manual mode control portion configured to control the manual gearshift mode.
A shift device 700 shown in FIG. 8 has shift patterns respectively corresponding to an automatic-mode operating path 710 and a manual-mode operating path 720. Thus, in the drive position, the shift device 700 can performs an operation of changing the gearshift mode to a first manual mode. Also, in the manual mode position, the shift device 700 can performs an operation of changing the gearshift mode to a second manual mode. The shift device 700 is electrically connected to a control device 800 consisting of a first manual mode control portion 810 and a second manual mode control portion 820 differing from the first manual mode control portion 810 in the gearshift operation.
However, when an operation of changing the gear between an automatic gearshift mode and a manual gearshift mode is performed in the shift device 100 shown in FIG. 6, an operator should take his hands off the steering wheel when performing an operation of changing over between the automatic gearshift mode and the manual gearshift mode, and also should operate the shift lever from the drive position to the manual mode position. Thus, the shift device 100 has a problem in that operability is low.
The shift device 200 shown in FIG. 7 needs the changeover switch 400 configured to change over between the automatic gearshift mode and the manual gearshift mode. Thus, the shift device 200 has a problem in that the configuration of the steering wheel 300 having the changeover switch 400 is complicated.
The shift device 700 shown in FIG. 8 needs to have the manual-mode operating path 720 exclusively for a manual gearshift operation, and to have the manual mode position (M) Thus, the shift device 700 has a problem in that the configuration of the shift device 700 is complicated.